Top 10 Reasons to “Make the Connection”      back to Yoga  Day USA

Give yoga try and discover what it can do for body and mind.
A central premise in yoga is “everything is connected.” That’s clear when looking at the
health and fitness benefits of yoga that have long been reported by practitioners and are
now being confirmed by scientific research.

1 - STRESS RELIEF Yoga reduces the physical effects of stress on the body. By
encouraging relaxation, yoga helps to lower the levels of the stress hormone cortisol.
Related benefits include lowering blood pressure and heart rate, improving digestion and
boosting the immune system as well as easing symptoms of conditions such as anxiety,
depression, fatigue, asthma and insomnia.

2 - PAIN RELIEF Yoga can ease pain. Studies have demonstrated that practicing yoga
asanas (postures), meditation or a combination of the two, reduced pain for people with
conditions such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, auto-immune diseases and hypertension
as well as arthritis, back and neck pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, fibromyalgia, eczema,
irritable bowel syndrome and other chronic conditions. Some practitioners report that
even emotional pain can be eased through the practice of yoga.

3 - BETTER BREATHING Yoga teaches people to take slower, deeper breaths. This
helps to improve lung function, trigger the body’s relaxation response and increase the
amount of oxygen available to the body.

4 - FLEXIBILITY Yoga helps to improve flexibility and mobility, increasing range of
movement and reducing aches and pains. Many people can’t touch their toes during
their first yoga class. Practitioners begin to use the correct muscles to make the
movement and, over time, the ligaments, tendons and muscles gradually lengthen and
elasticity is increased. These gradual changes can mean that more and more poses are
possible.

5 - INCREASED STRENGTH Yoga asanas (postures) use every muscle in the body,
helping to increase strength literally from head to toe. And, while the postures practiced
in yoga strengthen the body, they also provide an additional benefit of helping to relieve
muscular tension.

6 - WEIGHT MANAGEMENT Yoga (even less vigorous styles) can aid weight control
efforts by reducing the cortisol levels as well as by burning excess calories and reducing
stress. Yoga also encourages healthy eating habits and provides a heightened sense of
well being and self esteem.

7 - IMPROVED CIRCULATION Yoga helps to improve circulation and, as a result of
various poses, more efficiently moves oxygenated blood to the body’s cells.

8 - CARDIOVASCULAR CONDITIONING Even gentle yoga practice can provide
cardiovascular benefits by lowering resting heart rate, increasing endurance and
improving oxygen uptake during exercise.

9 - BETTER BODY ALIGNMENT Yoga helps to improve body alignment, resulting in
better posture and helping to relieve back, neck, joint and muscle problems.

10 - FOCUS ON THE PRESENT Yoga helps us to focus on the present, to become
more aware and to help create mind body health. It opens the way to improved
coordination, reaction time and memory.

“Yoga leads to a body that is easeful, a mind that is peaceful, which results in a
life that is useful.” Paraphrased from Swami Satchidananda, a pioneer in bringing yoga
to the United States.

For more information on the benefits cited here and more information on studies about
the health benefits of yoga visit our website at www.yogadayusa.org or the Yoga
Alliance site at www.yogaalliance.org.

Additional research information is available on the following sites:
www.iayt.org (International Association of Yoga Therapists)
www.YogaJournal.com (Yoga Journal magazine)
www.yimag.org (Yoga International magazine)
www.layogamagazine.com (LA YOGA, Ayurveda and Health magazine)
www.umassmed.edu/cfm (Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusettts
Medical School)